In yet another significant development in Alluri Sitharama Raju district, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is changing the candidate in the Paderu Assembly constituency. After confirming the ticket to former government teacher K. Venkata Ramesh Naidu, the TDP high command is said to have re-allotted the ticket to former MLA and TDP in-charge of Paderu, Giddi Eswari.
Ms. Eswari confirmed to The Hindu that she was informed by the high command that the ticket was being given to her. The former MLA also said that she was asked to meet TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday at his residence.
Initially, the TDP cadre thought the ticket will be allotted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of seat-sharing among the alliance parties. However, the BJP sought the Araku Assembly constituency ticket and announced P. Raja Babu as its candidate. When it was believed that Ms. Eswari, who was working as in-charge for the constituency, will be the automatic choice of the party from Paderu, the name of Mr. Naidu came in as a surprise from the high command.
Since then, Ms. Eswari’s supporters have been staging protest rallies and dharnas demanding that the party high command reconsider its decision. Ms. Eswari recently conducted a meeting with her supporters and expressed anguish that she was humiliated by the high command. She also announced her decision to contest as an independent candidate.
Mr. Ramesh Naidu, on the other hand, filed his nomination papers as the Paderu MLA candidate on April 20.
Ms. Eswari had won the Paderu seat in the 2014 elections on a YSRCP ticket but joined the TDP in 2017. In 2019, she contested as a TDP candidate, but lost to YSRCP’s K. Bhagya Lakshmi.
After Madugula Assembly constituency, Paderu will be the second segment where the TDP is likely to change its candidate in the next few days.
